“Once the wedding is done, you will stay here and live your life, and I will return for a few months a year.” He sighs and clenches his jaw. “We need to stay married for two years.”
Fuck.Two whole years.
My God. I guess now I have the information I wanted to know most.
I just don’t know how I’m supposed to get married to him in the first place, then stay that way for two years.
“Is that seriously how long you plan to keep me?”
He chuckles, cruel, wicked, and low. The sound raises my nerve endings, and I realize I’ve missed something.
“Baby girl, I never gave you an end date.” His dark brows rise into a rigid line. “That timeframe is simply to meet the business terms of inheritance for Sidorov Developments. Even though I’ll own the company, you still have shares and inheritance rights. All we’re doing is ticking a box.”
My mouth falls open. “So, you don’t plan to let me go, ever?”
“That part is debatable. I have a lot in store for you people. Giving Uther Sidorov’s daughter her freedom wasn’t really part of my plans.”
I hate the way he talks about me as if I’m some kind of species he’s classifying.
“So my life is just collateral,” I rasp in a hushed tone. I can’t believe I really am little more than a pawn in this and he truly doesn’t care.
“I think I’ve told you all you need to know.”
“How?”
“Don’t push me, Anastasia. Yesterday I informed you of the looming threat hanging over your head. If I were you, I’d be grateful no one worse than me discovered your father’s extra-curricular activities. Believe me, if they had, you’d both be dead.”
I’ve definitely thought of that, but as for being grateful—no. I’m not grateful to this asshole because everything is all bad and he hasn’t exactly said he won’t throw us to the lions when he chooses to.
“So dear wife-to-be, you need to watch yourself.” He smiles, switching back to the cynical version of himself. “Lastly, Ehlga will be taking you to the doctor tomorrow morning. Make sure you comply with that, too.”
“Why do I need to go to the doctor?”
“For your sexual health tests.”
“Excuse me? I will do no such thing.”
“Yes, you will.” He leans in closer as Ehlga walks in with a pot of coffee. When she sets it down and leaves, the hard line of his jaw softens and he continues. “I assure you, my dear Valkyrie, I don’t fuck like a gentleman. Condoms won’t work with me. When I fuck you, I want to feel you come undone around me.”
Blood surges from my fingertips to my toes like a raging river in a tempestuous storm. Then wild sexual images flood my mind, each one hitting me harder than the one before.
Desmier’s seductive stare intensifies and his raw masculine presence lulls me like a drug, enticing my body to betray me. His closeness doesn’t help either.
One corner of his sensual lips turns up, and he angles himself so he’s a breath away.
“Maybe you’d like that. Or you will.” His breath caresses my skin, turning up the heat burning through me. “Don’t people say good girls prefer bad boys? I’m as bad as they come, Valkyrie.” He shows me the tattoo on his wrist. The sight makes me wonder what he must have gone through to get it and how many he had to kill.
“Oh I definitely believe you’re as bad as they come.” I nod.
“Good. Glad we’re on the same page because I also heard good girls love to be fucked hard and dirty. Is that how you want it, baby girl? That’s how I like it.”
I’m already on fire, but I shock myself further when I realize moisture is beading between my thighs. My God, I’m actually aroused by this man and his dirty words, and I shouldn’t be.
What the hell is wrong with me?
Guys like him would usually be an instant turn off, but maybe being held against my will by this psychotic man is throwing my mind out of sync.
“You are vile,” I grate out, swallowing past the lump clogging my throat.